HERB - "Violets are blue....."

[Roberta R Comstock]

On Tue, 27 Apr 1999 23:05:34 EDT WlNDSlNGER at aol.com writes:
><<are you talking about a pale blue swirly flower?  That's a wood 
>violet. >>
>
>Nope.  A teensy blue-purple flower, that, along with clover, likes to 
>grow on 
>your lawn.   Common enough to be called a weed, I suppose.   *I* 
>always 
>thought this was Viola odorata....but someone told me it wasn't.
>========================================================================
====
>Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list 
>tasks.
>

The teensy bit is an important clue.  That may be speedwell (_Veronica
spp._).  The blossoms are not much bigger than the head of a straight pin
(lesss than 1/8 inch).  They are bilaterally symmetrical and have 4
petals, 3 of which are almost identical and the 4th is narrower.  The
entire plant is sprawling and creeping in habit and seldom as long as my
hand.

Violets (_Viola spp._), while not large, are considerably larger than
veronica! 
The most common types have blossoms that are on individual stalks that
have a crook at the top end (individual leaves are on separate stalks). 
The flowers may be about 1/2 inch across (sometimes smaller or larger). 
The flowers are bilaterally symmetrical, have 5 petals, and can range in
color from deep purple to red violet, to pale blue-violet, yellow, white
and variegated.   There are also a number of violets that have a central
stem from which both leaves and flower stalks arise.  The leaf shapes on
these are highly variable.  The ones known as johnny-jump-ups or
heart's-ease have a two color arrangement with the upper 2 petals a
completely different color from the lower three (such as yellow and
purple).  Pansies are a type of viola.

I can't say how the medicinal properties vary from species to species,
but as far as I know, all violet flowers are edible and many of the
leaves are used as pot herbs.

Hertha Blair of Froggestow
Calontir




___________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.